In consideration of themes and programming for the 2017 congress, the local organizing committee envisions a
broad and inclusive view of topics
on environmental and sustainability education that will highlight the impact of urban ecosystems and local, place based
initiatives that can be translated into practices
on a global
scale.
Led by Dr. James E. Hansen from 1981 to 2013, research at GISS emphasized a
broad study of global change, which is an interdisciplinary
initiative addressing natural and man - made changes in our environment that occur
on various time
scales — from one - time forcings such as volcanic explosions, to seasonal / annual effects such as El Niño, and
on up to the millennia of ice ages — and that affect the habitability of our planet.